More proof that the enemies of the state are no more than a pretext for infighting to the death among the agencies.
The screw-ups, has-beens, and never-weres who’ve been shunted off to Slough House are upstaged by incompetent spies at far higher pay grades in this eighth series installment.
Swiss native Dr. Sophie de Greer, whom hard-charging bureaucrat Anthony Sparrow brought to the U.K. to work on Rethink#1, his think tank, may be a superforecaster at predicting trends, but one development she doesn’t seem to have anticipated is her own sudden disappearance. When ex–MI5 chief Oliver Nash, acting at Sparrow’s behest, asks his former colleague Claude Whelan to shake a few trees and see if she falls out, Whelan can see nothing but downsides—especially if, he frets, “someone triggered the Waterproof protocol” Whelan himself set up. If de Greer did come to grief, after all, the most obvious suspect is none other than Diana Taverner, who holds down the First Desk at MI5. Diana, for her part, is busy trying to figure out the agenda of her smirking Russian counterpart, Vassily Rasnokov, who’s popped up in London from behind a false identity that wouldn’t have fooled a child but fooled the spooks who were supposed to be following him. Although Diana takes time out for a meeting with her regular sparring partner, Slough House zookeeper Jackson Lamb, the problems here go far beyond Lamb’s slow horses, as she realizes when someone does trigger the Candlestub protocol, transforming her instantly from the head of MI5 into a woman on the run. Once again, Herron summons a witches’ brew of double talk, petty rivalries, and professional paranoia, this time less John le Carré than George V. Higgins, to demonstrate that any talk of the intelligence community outside Slough House is nothing but an oxymoron.
More proof that the enemies of the state are no more than a pretext for infighting to the death among the agencies.Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-641-29337-2
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Soho Crime
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.
What hasn’t legendary legal eagle Grisham tried yet? How about a thriller about serial kidnapping and international terrorism.
When Paul and Chelsea Tanner disappear during a day trip on their Paris honeymoon, their abductors demand a ransom of $2 million from Chelsea’s wealthy parents, and a few days later the same sum from Paul’s much less well-heeled parents. After orthopedist Lowell Clayburn, Chelsea’s father, ponies up the ransom without breathing a word to the authorities, his daughter is promptly released. But even though Paul’s parents sell their home, liquidate their assets, and borrow money from the Clayburns to meet the kidnappers’ demands, the villains hold on to Paul anyway. Asked whether he’s ever seen such an outcome in a double kidnapping, FBI deputy director Andrew Strong tells Lowell: “No, this is a new one.” But it’s not, as Strong knows all too well; it’s the third such active case, all involving honeymooning couples whose bridegrooms had served in the armed forces. After masterfully drawing readers in with his bare-knuckle account of the Tanners’ abduction and the attempt by their families and the CIA to tell the lies required to keep caring friends and the rapacious press at bay, Grisham effortlessly switches gears to follow CIA agent Rae Claire Russo and Stuart Nash, a former Department of Justice prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay who agrees to marry her so they can serve as bait for the kidnappers, whose motives include justice and revenge as well as cold hard cash. So much for the imprisoned Paul’s wistful reflection that “hopefully, it was only about money.”
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780385550543
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2026
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.
A violent attack hijacks a woman’s memory in this novel of domestic suspense.
McFadden wastes no time pulling the trigger in this harrowing story that starts with gunfire then swiftly propels readers into a crack tale of secrets and misdirection. Originally self-published in 2016, the book carries the same formidable weight as McFadden’s later novels featuring unsuspecting women who lose their power then fight to recapture it—mostly from men who have betrayed them. That formula perfectly fits Dr. Charlotte McKenna, a 37-year-old dermatologist who isn’t looking for love until the most handsome man she’s ever seen begins to woo her. There are warning signs about Clark Douglas and Charlotte overlooks them to her detriment—but is he a killer? The novel has dual timelines split between events leading up to the day Charlotte barely survives a head wound meant to kill her and the months afterward, when she struggles to reclaim her memory and her mobility. In real life, McFadden is a physician trained to treat brain injuries. Her expertise gives Charlotte’s rehabilitation authenticity, and her writing talent makes it interesting and engaging. As good as that timeline is, readers will yearn to get back to the alternate timeline about who wants Charlotte dead. It’s only a matter of time before Charlotte starts to remember who tried to kill her, and the clock is ticking toward their next attempt. McFadden dishes up plenty of suspects: Charlotte’s secretive husband, Clark; a former patient turned stalker who confronts Charlotte on her honeymoon; and the angry husband of a patient who blames Charlotte for his wife leaving him. Though the story is delicious and dark, McFadden brightens things up with a possible love interest for Charlotte and a surprise ending sure to please the author’s many fans.
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249617
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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